Hormone Diet Sabotage
Hormone Diets, Hormones, exercise
What if you’ve been following one of the hormone diets, you’ve been losing some weight and then you reach a dreaded plateau? You try and try, but you are not losing any more weight and you’ve still got that stubborn belly fat. What can you do? Here’s a list of a few suggestions to help get you passed the last threshold and lose the weight around your belly.
Have your hormone levels checked. It could be that your estrogen or progesterone levels have changed. Seek the help of your doctor to reassess where your hormones are and where they should be. Use natural bioidentical hormones to regain hormone balance and continue on your health hormone diet.
Check out your thyroid levels. If your thyroid is not performing optimally, you will find yourself with stubborn ab fat that just won’t budge. The thyroid determines the rate of your metabolism, the rate at which you burn fat and calories. Low thyroid is a problem for many women and men, once they reach their 40s and 50s.
Increase your workout sessions. Whether it’s walking, yoga, swimming, biking, weight training, you should extend your exercise time. Increasing your workout time will increase the amount of fat and calories burned. However, don’t overdo it as this could raise your cortisol levels which will block thyroid production which slows down your metabolism and you won’t lose that stubborn menopause weight gain.
Make sure that you avoid certain foods which contain hidden sugars which will increase calorie intake and raise your insulin levels. Hidden sugars can be found in cereals (even though they are advertised as “healthy,” special coffees such as lattes and moccachinos. Drink green tea instead which has many health benefits such as speeding up your metabolism and hence your fat burning, lowers blood sugar, and has a calming effect on the body. Also, caffeine raises blood sugar and insulin levels and slows down your metabolism. All of which, thickens your waistline.
Are you eating too much fruit? Fruits contain hidden sugar and if you eat too much of it, it will sabotage your weight loss. Three fruits per day is adequate for health and menopause weight loss.
Avoid hidden sugars that are found in alcohol, drink mixes, salad dressings. Avoid anything that contains high fructose corn syrup. In fact, avoid corn altogether. It is cheap filler and is found in most processed foods. It has a high glycemic index which will cause a sugar surge and a rise in insulin levels. To lose menopause weight, you have to master your intake of sugar and carbohydrates by reducing foods that contain them, levelling your insulin and blood sugar levels.
Avoid hard alcohol and beer altogether. Drinking an occasional glass of red wine is okay and actually good for you because it contains resveratrol which helps prevent disease.
Drink plenty of water – at least eight glasses of it a day.
Avoid diet pops and sparkling waters which will cause you to bloat.
Don’t skip breakfast, we’ve all heard that it’s the most important meal of the day and they don’t say this without reason.
Are you experiencing more stress in your life? Stress will make you fat, especially around the waistline. If you find that you have more stress in your life, take steps now to remove that stress from your life right now.
Are you sleeping enough and sleeping well? If not, find out why because not getting enough sleep – will cause you to gain and retain weight which will sabotage your diet.
Poor quality sleep could be due to high levels of cortisol hormone, speak with your doctor about testing your hormones, including your cortisol levels. A blood test for cortisol is performed in the morning and in the late afternoon. Your cortisol level will be high in the morning and lower in the late afternoon. If it does not follow this pattern, you need to do something about your high cortisol because high levels of this hormone are detrimental to your health and could lead to serious health problems.
Find out if you are insulin resistant by a blood test from your doctor. Insulin resistance will cause weight gain and belly fat. Insulin resistance causes weight gain, sugar and carbohydrate cravings. Eating a low glycemic diet – that is, foods which have a low glycemic index will help balance your blood sugar and end the cravings for junk foods. Diets which are based on the glycemic index include Natasha Turner’s hormone diet – a Glyci-Med diet, the Mediterranean diet, the South Beach diet, Dr Oz’s diet, Suzanne Somers’ diet and the Okinawa diet. These diets help promote your health, help you to lose menopause weight and assist in balancing your hormones. Still, if you are stuck in a diet plateau, take a look at what you are eating more closely and assess what is going on in your life to make any necessary changes to your lifestyle or eating habits.
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admin @ July 2, 2010